Xbox One Will Not Have 12GB Of RAM, Microsoft Confirms 8GB

A lot of fanboys have been kicking up rumors to help give the Xbox One an edge heading into the fall console wars. With pre-orders obviously in favor of the PlayStation 4, fan support obviously in favor of the PlayStation 4, and hardware specs obviously in favor of the PlayStation 4, some fanboys felt it necessary to drum up rumors that the Xbox One will get a hardware upgrade. Microsoft has shot down this rumor, however.

Now Gamer picked up tweets from Albert Penello, lead planner for Xbox One, who took to Twitter to say...

Glad you all like headset. We’re not going to 12gb, just to be clear. Feeling great about game performance – stuff is looking killer.

Regarding the headset that Penello brings up in the tweet, Microsoft has decided to add in the headset to the Xbox One's package considering that Xbox 360 headsets and unapproved third-party headsets are no longer compatible with the Xbox One. Many gamers became furious knowing that their several-hundred dollar headsets would no longer work with the Xbox One and that they would be forced to buy a new headset on top of paying $500 for the console.

According to Penello, Microsoft is picking up the tab for including the headset in the total package. Finally, they're doing something right.

Circling back around to that whole 12 gigabytes of falsehood... the entire thing was cooked up during Marc Whitten's announcement that the Xbox One would be receiving a slight processing cosmetic boost from 800mhz to 853mhz in the GPU sector. While most hardware aficionados know that those numbers are more PR talking point than indicative of any sort of real-world processing difference in the way a game is displayed or how it runs, those numbers sparked many gamers and some enthusiast to believe that perhaps the RAM got a boost as well.

As many of you know, the Xbox One's RAM is heavily segregated for handling OS tasks, with 3GB reserved for handling the three operating systems. Low-overhead on consoles my foot.

Anyway, sparking rumors that the Xbox One would have 12GB of RAM would give reputation managers fuel for the fire and fanboys a flame to hang on to as it would effectively mean that the Xbox One finally has something better than the PlayStation 4. However, Penello's admission that the 12GB rumor is false and that 8GB is the sticking point means that the Xbox One goes back under the table when it comes to comparing specs to the PlayStation 4.

For now, fanboys can still take solace in talking up the potential of the launch lineup for the Xbox One, assuming people don't just boo the console and buy a Wii U or PlayStation 4 instead.